danmcph
Well-known member
Hey Guys,
I am completely self taught. I have never had a class, course, mentor etc. So, I have never had anyone teach me things to do to avoid injury in a shop. I have gleaned what I have learned through common sense, horror stories, threads in forums and I am much safer now then when I started. But it is the info you don't have that you should have that can really help.
So, lets make a thread that hopefully becomes a resource that people can read to learn the best safety practices in a shop. If we help one person avoid one injury it will be time well spent. Lets keep this packed with info and real world advice. I will start out.
1) DO NOT clean anything you are going to weld or heat with Brake Cleaner. Doing so creates poison gas that will mess you up. (Think trenches of WWI)
2) Angle grinders mean using guards, eye glasses, face mask, two hands on the tool and giving the tool the same amount of trust you would give a starving rabid dog that just wants to ruin your day.
3) If you are working with cable moving at faster speeds close to the winch, don't use gloves that could snag and pull your hand into the winch
4) Assume the wire wheel you are using is going to launch wires out of it that will act like heat seeking missiles aimed for the softest parts of your body, act accordingly.
5) That automotive jack you paid $9.99 for that is holding up your 12,000 lb vehicle needs to be backed up with quality jack stands and it doesn't hurt to have a secondary catch under the car as well, like that tire you just took off positioned under the axle if your repair allows it.
6) That friend you think is in no way stupid enough to actually ______ while you are ______ because that would potentially injure you, may have a lapse in thought process long enough to get you hurt. Keep an eye on everyone while doing anything dangerous, and ask them to keep an eye on you because you might end up being "that guy" today.
7) The piece of metal you just welded doesn't cool down as fast as you are thinking it did. Don't grab it too soon
8) I know you love your wife. She fell in love with a dude with 10 fingers. Lets keep it that way. No wedding rings can be worn in the shop.
9) On the drill press, bolt that workpiece down. Nothing like your Ellis drill press catching the work piece and spinning it at 600 RPM right into your hip or hands.
10) Chock your tires.
11) Do what your wife asks. Don't ask, but the difference between steak and a **** sandwich is the difference between doing what you need to do and doing what you want to do.
12) Throw away scratched safety glasses so you aren't taking them off to "get a better look". Then, sprinkle safety glasses around like my kids sprinkle lego's around on the floor for me to step on at 2 am in a drunken stupor. A 24 pack of safety glasses costs way less then a cutting edge eye transplant from your 3rd cousin who is a match for the procedure. I know, I priced it out on Amazon.
13) The number thirteen is so damn unlucky I'm skipping this one and moving right along.
14) A tool is designed to do a job, don't use it for something other than its intended purpose. An example that has nothing to do with me owing my wife $100 and being in the doghouse for a week, would be using a really nice hair dryer to dry your motorcycle air filter after washing the filter. Then proceeding to let the hairdryer become just another shop victim before you have a chance to return it.
15) Keep your clothing tucked in while operating rotating equipment. Snag hazards will mess you up.
16) No one ever has fires in their shop, except that one dude that one time who had all his **** burn to the ground. Other than that, it never happens, until it does. Get a fire extingisher. Put it where you can grab it fast. Really, they are pretty cheap. Oh, and get a real one, because if you are like me and there is a fire in my shop it will probably involve Napalm and a two ton pile of shredded paper, not some trivial average shop fire.
Thats all I have for now. Lets get this going!
I am completely self taught. I have never had a class, course, mentor etc. So, I have never had anyone teach me things to do to avoid injury in a shop. I have gleaned what I have learned through common sense, horror stories, threads in forums and I am much safer now then when I started. But it is the info you don't have that you should have that can really help.
So, lets make a thread that hopefully becomes a resource that people can read to learn the best safety practices in a shop. If we help one person avoid one injury it will be time well spent. Lets keep this packed with info and real world advice. I will start out.
1) DO NOT clean anything you are going to weld or heat with Brake Cleaner. Doing so creates poison gas that will mess you up. (Think trenches of WWI)
2) Angle grinders mean using guards, eye glasses, face mask, two hands on the tool and giving the tool the same amount of trust you would give a starving rabid dog that just wants to ruin your day.
3) If you are working with cable moving at faster speeds close to the winch, don't use gloves that could snag and pull your hand into the winch
4) Assume the wire wheel you are using is going to launch wires out of it that will act like heat seeking missiles aimed for the softest parts of your body, act accordingly.
5) That automotive jack you paid $9.99 for that is holding up your 12,000 lb vehicle needs to be backed up with quality jack stands and it doesn't hurt to have a secondary catch under the car as well, like that tire you just took off positioned under the axle if your repair allows it.
6) That friend you think is in no way stupid enough to actually ______ while you are ______ because that would potentially injure you, may have a lapse in thought process long enough to get you hurt. Keep an eye on everyone while doing anything dangerous, and ask them to keep an eye on you because you might end up being "that guy" today.
7) The piece of metal you just welded doesn't cool down as fast as you are thinking it did. Don't grab it too soon
8) I know you love your wife. She fell in love with a dude with 10 fingers. Lets keep it that way. No wedding rings can be worn in the shop.
9) On the drill press, bolt that workpiece down. Nothing like your Ellis drill press catching the work piece and spinning it at 600 RPM right into your hip or hands.
10) Chock your tires.
11) Do what your wife asks. Don't ask, but the difference between steak and a **** sandwich is the difference between doing what you need to do and doing what you want to do.
12) Throw away scratched safety glasses so you aren't taking them off to "get a better look". Then, sprinkle safety glasses around like my kids sprinkle lego's around on the floor for me to step on at 2 am in a drunken stupor. A 24 pack of safety glasses costs way less then a cutting edge eye transplant from your 3rd cousin who is a match for the procedure. I know, I priced it out on Amazon.
13) The number thirteen is so damn unlucky I'm skipping this one and moving right along.
14) A tool is designed to do a job, don't use it for something other than its intended purpose. An example that has nothing to do with me owing my wife $100 and being in the doghouse for a week, would be using a really nice hair dryer to dry your motorcycle air filter after washing the filter. Then proceeding to let the hairdryer become just another shop victim before you have a chance to return it.
15) Keep your clothing tucked in while operating rotating equipment. Snag hazards will mess you up.
16) No one ever has fires in their shop, except that one dude that one time who had all his **** burn to the ground. Other than that, it never happens, until it does. Get a fire extingisher. Put it where you can grab it fast. Really, they are pretty cheap. Oh, and get a real one, because if you are like me and there is a fire in my shop it will probably involve Napalm and a two ton pile of shredded paper, not some trivial average shop fire.
Thats all I have for now. Lets get this going!
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I have a set (dont look like the one pictured though) that is old american made and I trust it much more than the ratcheting craftsman ones. The old triangles with a pin to adjust height seem more stable and I trust the steel pipe with a nice pin through it more than some Chinese pot steel ratcheting jackstand.... 
